Those of you who have followed my 1000 Gallon Glass Tank Build Thread will recall that project had humble beginnings after I happened to stumble across some peacock bass at a LFS while travelling for my kids' hockey. I always joke that a few $20 fish wound up costing me over $20,000. You'd think I would have learned the first time around...
While travelling for hockey, I dropped by a LFS which had just received a shipment of ten or so Asian arowana from Sing Arowanas in Singapore. With the recent passing of my favorite fish, a jardini arowana, only a few weeks earlier, these fish really caught my attention. Not knowing a lot about the fish, I returned home and started doing the sort of obsessive research the internet facilitates to learn as much about the fish as possible. In the end, I have purchased a gold-base MerLion crossback arowana from Dreamfish, another arowana farm in Singapore. The fish is due to arrive in approximately three weeks. I was also able to secure eight 7" clown loaches for the tank, and plan to add six or so Myleus spp. silver dollars as well.
Now I needed to figure out how to accommodate all of these expensive fish. Fortunately, I was in the process of buying a 240g for my jardini when it passed so I found myself with a brand new tank ready to accommodate the fish. More research indicated the loaches like current and I came across the River Tank Manifold setup commonly employed by hardcore loach-keepers at loaches.com. I loved the idea, but didn't want all the piping running through my substrate. So I decided to make some changes to the design to try to establish current near the bottom of the tank for the loaches without imparting too much current up top for the arowana. I also wanted to hard plumb some extra FX5s I had lying around to take care of the filtration. I came across lots of pictures from people who have done it (some better than me), but couldn't find any real details.
That's where this thread comes in. Primarily, I hope it will help people gain the confidence to hard-plumb their FX5s for better filtration. I think the corrugated hoses that come with them are horrible. I also thought the River Tank Manifold concept was a neat one that could have lots of applications for MFKers. I hope you enjoy, and comments are always welcome. On with the show.
While travelling for hockey, I dropped by a LFS which had just received a shipment of ten or so Asian arowana from Sing Arowanas in Singapore. With the recent passing of my favorite fish, a jardini arowana, only a few weeks earlier, these fish really caught my attention. Not knowing a lot about the fish, I returned home and started doing the sort of obsessive research the internet facilitates to learn as much about the fish as possible. In the end, I have purchased a gold-base MerLion crossback arowana from Dreamfish, another arowana farm in Singapore. The fish is due to arrive in approximately three weeks. I was also able to secure eight 7" clown loaches for the tank, and plan to add six or so Myleus spp. silver dollars as well.
Now I needed to figure out how to accommodate all of these expensive fish. Fortunately, I was in the process of buying a 240g for my jardini when it passed so I found myself with a brand new tank ready to accommodate the fish. More research indicated the loaches like current and I came across the River Tank Manifold setup commonly employed by hardcore loach-keepers at loaches.com. I loved the idea, but didn't want all the piping running through my substrate. So I decided to make some changes to the design to try to establish current near the bottom of the tank for the loaches without imparting too much current up top for the arowana. I also wanted to hard plumb some extra FX5s I had lying around to take care of the filtration. I came across lots of pictures from people who have done it (some better than me), but couldn't find any real details.
That's where this thread comes in. Primarily, I hope it will help people gain the confidence to hard-plumb their FX5s for better filtration. I think the corrugated hoses that come with them are horrible. I also thought the River Tank Manifold concept was a neat one that could have lots of applications for MFKers. I hope you enjoy, and comments are always welcome. On with the show.